Now til Forever | n.mikaelson (book two)

XXVI: The Map of Moments

It's like it wasn't real. Briana knew where she was going, but she couldn't wrap her mind fully around it. She looked out the window of the zooming car. The sun was hitting her face perfectly as the empty road zipped by her, the trees blowing in the breeze. She could feel the warmness. It was a perfect day. 

Everything was telling her it was perfect, everything but her own mind. Her knee bounced up and down at a rapid speed as she bit at her cuticles, a habit her mother always told her to break. 

Her thoughts were running rampant with hypotheticals and what ifs. Her mind had always been her own worst enemy. All she wanted was to enjoy this day, a day she had been awaiting for months. The day she would finally get to hold her precious baby girl. 

Briana's thoughts were disrupted as Klaus placed a hand on her knee to stop it from bouncing uncomfortably with nerves. She looked to him with perplexity as he shot her a soft smile. 

"Sweetheart, you're shaking the entire car." Klaus spoke in a sultry tone, one hand on the steering wheel. 

Briana's shoulders fell as she let out a small breath, looking to the backseat to Hayley who nodded in confirmation. 

Briana sighed as she rubbed her hand over her face, "I'm sorry, I'm just so nervous." 

"Don't be nervous." Klaus said softly with his hand still on her knee, rubbing small circles into her skin. 

"How can I not be?!" Briana questioned, her voice raising, "What if she hates me?" 

"Don't be ridiculous." Klaus said sternly as he shook his head. 

Briana began to shake with anxiety. She completely ignored his comment. 

"Or worse, what if she doesn't even know who I am?! I mean its been--" 

Klaus could tell by the tone in her voice that Briana was starting to spin out of control. 

He squeezed her knee with his hand that had been resting there, "She grew inside you for 9 months, she'll know who you are. Stop worrying." 

Briana hung her head slightly as she sighed, clutching her eyes tight together to keep tears from falling. 

"I abandoned her." She whispered with shame in her voice. 

"You kept her safe." Klaus said sternly, "We kept her safe." 

Briana's tear brimmed eyes met Klaus for the briefest of moments before he looked back to the road. In that moment, with just one look and the squeeze of her hand, he had managed to calm her down. He was the only person that could. 

"Okay," She whispered trying to reassure herself, "It's fine. It's all going to be fine." 

Klaus smiled watching as Briana calmed herself down. 

"Let's talk about something else. Distract me." Briana said slightly more chipper trying to repress her nerves and anxiety. 

"We could go back to talking about Hayley marrying her werwolf suitor." Klaus said with a playful grin, knowing Hayley wasn't going to like it. 

Hayley's smile fell as she kicked the back of the driver's seat, hard. Sending Klaus jerking forward. 

"Ass." The younger sister muttered from the back seat causing Klaus to smile proudly.

"Yeah, let's talk about that." Briana said as she turned to Hayley, "Have you lost your mind? You aren't doing that!" 

"I have to!" Hayley defended, "It's the only way--" 

"You don't have to do anything!" Briana interjected, hearing just how ridiculous her sister sounded, "And you're not."

Hayley crossed her arms over her chest like a child, "And who are you? My mother? You can't tell me what I can and can not do."